[rustyp]

I attended the Sun Bowl seniors bowling tournament here in The Villages yesterday. The bowling was fantastic. These guys bowl as good as they did when they were on the regular tour. Great to see all the old legends. When they announced Walter Ray Williams’ winning check of $7500 I could not believe it. I almost felt said for these guys. I assume they must attend these events as a social thing, you know like a retirees club. I think the whole payout was around $50K to the top 32 bowlers. The entrance field I believe was 160. That would come out to $312 per bowler. By the time they fill up the old motor home, pay the entrance fee, and all the other expenses 150 of them (?) probably lost money. There was a full house there for the final matches. I paid $10 for admittance for the day (fair). However with so many spectators I could not see the final matches. We are all standing in the bowling alley where every lane has a TV monitor above it yet the house did not have the technology to broadcast the event on the screens. Worse yet they could not broadcast the score but only on the screens of the two lanes the bowlers were on. I suggest the PBA review their business model. This sport from a professional standpoint looks like it’s dying in my opinion. From an amateur standpoint I know it is very popular here in The Villages. So I pick up the newspaper this morning and see that the Legends Tour for the LPGA is here in The Villages this weekend. A field of 41 golfers with a purse of $225K. That would be an average of $5487 per golfer. The attendance fee for us residents is $10 (from Walgreens) for the entire weekend. Is this not a great place to live? I get to go to two professional tournaments in one week (in my golf cart as a bonus) for $20. And if I want I could throw in polo for a few bucks more.